Island Players present comic murder mystery

Guns and knives on the Island Players’ stage can only mean one thing — a murder/mystery production in the making.

The troupe is presenting the mystery/comedy “Catch Me If You Can” beginning today.

While the title may conjure up memories of the 2002 film with Leonardo DiCaprio, the actual play has nothing to do with that story, said director Phyllis Elfenbein.

But it’s still as entertaining.

“The play is much older than the film,” Elfenbein said.

This “Catch Me If You Can” is based on a French play by Robert Thomas that landed on Broadway for a short run in 1965. It features the character of Daniel Corban, who is spending his honeymoon in the Catskill Mountains with his bride — until she suddenly disappears. Then his car goes missing.

Elfenbein said the cast is terrific in the show.

“These are very good people to work with,” she said.

Part of the cast worked together on a past Island Players’ hit called “Orphans,” which Elfenbein also directed. It included John Durkin, who plays Daniel, Tom Aposporos, who plays Father Kelleher and Robin Rhodes, who plays Elizabeth, Daniel’s missing wife.

Rhodes said she was attracted to the show because her character is multifaceted.

“She’s not just what she appears,” she said.

That’s when Rhodes started talking about guns, but she didn’t want to give too much away. The production, she said, reminds her of a typical 1940s show.

Her co-star, Durkin, said there’s a lot of hysteria in the show.

“Things get crazy,” said Durkin, who has starred in “The Affections of May” and “Drinking Alone” at the Island Players. “But you don’t want to do that the whole time. So I have to figure out ways not to be too crazy.”

Being at the Players again has been fun for the cast, especially with the usual gang of suspects. The cast, which also features the talents of Vinnie Conte from “London Suite,” includes newcomer Russ Carthy, who plays Inspector Levine.

Carthy is from Boston, where he ran his own theater company and shot short films. He’s been an actor and director for 25 years. After living in Sarasota for the past five years, he said he’d love to get back into directing plays, which is partly why he decided to get involved at the Island Players.

“I figured the way to break in is to showcase myself as an artist, as an actor,” said Carthy, a chief engineer at the Marriott Hotel. “And then go from there.”

The film he did was called “No Match,” which was about a man’s quest to find a match for a cigarette. The film, which was chosen for the Massachusetts film festival, was made so that people would recognize their addictions, Carthy said.

“Some people don’t realize how much they need a cigarette until they don’t have a match, or how much they want to drink until they don’t have a drink or candy or food — it’s just dealing with things like that,” he said.

Carthy said the Island Players is a great place for an actor to start immersing himself in the area’s busy theater scene.

“The idea of theater is just so stimulating when you’re an actor,” he said. “I just couldn’t wait to get in.”

January Holmes, features writer, can be reached at 745-7057. Follow her on Twitter at @accentbradenton.